ABS-CBN inks loan restructuring deal

Media giant ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. has signed an agreement with BNP Paribas S.A. for the restructuring of $3.6 million in loans, chief financial officer Randolph Estrellado said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

Under the agreement, BNP Paribas will be considered a facility lender under the Exchangeable Notes Facility Agreement (ENFA) signed by majority of ABS-CBN’s short-term creditors in September last year.

The ENFA is a major component of a master financial plan that seeks to improve the loan maturity profile of ABS-CBN.

Estrellado said BNP will be subject to the same terms and amortization schedule under the ENFA. The facility is secured by a mortgage trust indenture over substantially all of the assets of ABS-CBN.

Under the ENFA, a majority of ABS-CBN creditors agreed to swap existing short-term loans of about P3 billion into five-year notes that are exchangeable into tradable bonds.

Most of ABS-CBN’s short-term creditors have graciously allowed the extension of the maturity of their credits, as long as interest payments are current and all short-term creditors are maintained on a pari passu basis on loan payments.

The agreement between ABS-CBN and BNP Paribas leaves Standard Chartered Bank as the only short-term creditor of the broadcast company that has yet to participate in the ENFA. ABS-CBN’s outstanding obligation to Standard Chartered is pegged at P100 million.

Early this month, ABS-CBN chief executive officer Eugenio Lopez III said the company is still working on a scheme to address its loan to Standard Chartered.

"We’re trying to explore solutions. We want to be fair with the other creditors because they helped us so we can’t give them anything beyond what we gave other creditors," Lopez said.